Adaptive Cruise Control & Collision Warning System

[Waldo]

 

I agree, or it could be a bad sensor. As I said before, the adaptive Cruise does work, I need to test out how far it detected another vehicle. The sensor looks like it is perfectly aligned with the bumper but I am wondering if it had more than one radar module in it or something. I think the radar system, lane keeping etc... are made by TRW and part of their AC100 system. If so this is a single band 24 ghz sensor and it is supposed to detect vehicles up to 150 Meters away and used in collision warning and adaptive cruise control. I don't think there is any adjustments in the system.

 

I don't know how you can say it's perfectly aligned to the bumper, you can't see it unless you take off the front end of the car. And the important part is that the front surface of the module is perfectly vertical. There is a calibration procedure that involves using a physical adjustment for the vertical position and a software calibration for the horizontal position. It's written right in the shop manual that every dealer has.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Waldo

[hybridbear]

Keep in mind that the Lane Keep Assist system doesn't use the bumper sensor that's used for adaptive cruise & collision warning. The Lake Keep Assist uses a camera which is mounted near the rear view mirror and rain sensor for the wipers.

[Pavman]

 

I don't know how you can say it's perfectly aligned to the bumper, you can't see it unless you take off the front end of the car. And the important part is that the front surface of the module is perfectly vertical. There is a calibration procedure that involves using a physical adjustment for the vertical position and a software calibration for the horizontal position. It's written right in the shop manual that every dealer has.

 

 

Ahh, I just looked at the cover which is flush with the bumper, I am going to take a closer look at it tonight. I would think that if it could lock on to a vehicle in Cruise Control from at least 100 feet away, that the field of view within 20 feet should activate it even if it was off a little bit. It is all a guess right now, I am hoping Kim will come through and get me hooked up to someone familiar with the system, she sounds like our biggest champion here!

[Pavman]

Well, when I drove the car tonight, I noticed the lane departure warning system and display lines on the dash are gone. I fear I may have electrical gremlins. Does anyone think the car needs a reboot by disconnecting the battery???

[SteveB_TX]

Did you accidentally turn off lane departure warning? From what I understand, it defaults ON on the 2014s, vs OFF on the 2013s. Try pressing the button on the end of the turn signal stalk to see if it comes back on. :)

[Pavman]

Did you accidentally turn off lane departure warning? From what I understand, it defaults ON on the 2014s, vs OFF on the 2013s. Try pressing the button on the end of the turn signal stalk to see if it comes back on. :)

Ha! I am getting paranoid! I bet my wife hit the button, I only drove the car to dinner and noticed it was off on the way home, I checked the settings on the on screen display and did not see an off option so I didn't look elsewhere! I hope that's it, thanks for helping out!

 

Edit: Yep that was it, I feel like an idiot, but I am very happy it was not a sign of bigger things to come!

Edited July 17, 2014 by Pavman

[Pavman]

It is a calibration issue, if it just flashes and no sound, that is also a module issue. The sensor in on the lower left side of the grill, you will see a closed in section on the lower grill, that is where the sensor is mounted. It is possible the radar unit is not aligned correctly and may not be seeing the car ahead of you directly. When set to high mine will actually go off when I approach a curve with a guard rail. It could be offset to the left a bit too much instead of directly ahead and a little right like it should be.

 

 

Ok, so this morning I took a look behind the bumper and I am able to see the sensor, it is pointed in the right direction, is it spot on, I don't know.... I also tested the distance required for Adaptive Cruise Control to lock on to a following vehicle and the indicator light comes on when a vehicle is at least 300 feet in front of me so it seems the radar sensor is working correctly. And as another glimmer of hope, I did manage to get the Collision Warning to work once myself, but I had to really, really get close to the poor guy in front of me, I mean a between 5 and ten feet, and this is with the "highest" sensitivity engaged. . I think I would have to actually crash into them if the sensitivity was set to normal or low.

 

So the good news, it seems as you said like a calibration issue with the sensitivity settings. I asked my dealer and they have no clue.

[acdii]

Set to high it should go off a lot sooner, and actually give false alerts to under certain conditions. Since it is doing neither, there is a fault in the system somewhere, so finding a good dealer to look at it will help, just dont go to the ones around Lakeland, bunch of idiots work there. Stopped at one down there to have my car scanned, and documented as a problem, would have taken all of 5 minutes, but they were being jerks and had no clue what I was asking for.

[Pavman]

Set to high it should go off a lot sooner, and actually give false alerts to under certain conditions. Since it is doing neither, there is a fault in the system somewhere, so finding a good dealer to look at it will help, just dont go to the ones around Lakeland, bunch of idiots work there. Stopped at one down there to have my car scanned, and documented as a problem, would have taken all of 5 minutes, but they were being jerks and had no clue what I was asking for.

 

 

Incredible as it may be, apparently Ford does not train their service departments on the operation of their vehicle systems.

 

Kim, set me up with the South Florida Customer Service rep, who I explained the problem to and they responded by asking me how the collision warning system is supposed to work (i.e. here is what I was asked "so what is supposed to happen, is it supposed to beep or something???") The Cust Service rep then called the dealer whom called me and guess what???? The dealer rep asked me how the system is supposed to work........ really!!! It has only been on Ford vehicles for 5 years! Humoring myself I explained to FORD how the FORD system works, then sent dealer a link to Fords's instructional video, several samples from other drivers and a youtube video of my car in action. That was last Thursday. Still no response...

 

This would be funny if it were not so sad...

Edited July 22, 2014 by Pavman

[Waldo]

It is sad, but you have to remember that dealers are independent franchises that control their own personnel. If a dealer doesn't want to pay it's employees to attend training, they don't have to. Find a dealer that does.

[acdii]

The CSR should at least know the systems, after all how can they provide assistance for something if they have no clue what it does? If it were me and I had this happen with someone from Ford, I would not have been so nice, and insisted I spoke to someone who knows what the systems does.

[FordIVTteam]

... Kim, set me up with the South Florida Customer Service rep, ...

 

Hi Pavman,

 

Just to clarify, did you mean Ashley (instead of Kim)? I saw her reach out to you earlier in this thread. If you have any updates to this case, feel free to send her a PM at FordService so she can help. :)

 

Kim

[Pavman]

 

Hi Pavman,

 

Just to clarify, did you mean Ashley (instead of Kim)? I saw her reach out to you earlier in this thread. If you have any updates to this case, feel free to send her a PM at FordService so she can help. :)

 

Kim

 

Yes, I meant Ashley, I kept on hearing Kim on this forum so I got you all mixed up. I finally got back in touch with my local dealer contact who is supposed to help me. He wan''s me to bring the car in again but cold not answer my question if there was an adjustment to calibrate the system. I was told they are still waiting on a response from Ford to se if the system could be calibrated etc... Exactly why I don't wan't to bring the car in and be vehicle-less for a week or two. I may email TRW the simple question, although they will likely tell me to contact Ford...

 

Thanks for the response, I will PM Ashley if I get anywhere.

[FordIVTteam]

 

Yes, I meant Ashley, I kept on hearing Kim on this forum so I got you all mixed up. I finally got back in touch with my local dealer contact who is supposed to help me. He wan''s me to bring the car in again but cold not answer my question if there was an adjustment to calibrate the system. I was told they are still waiting on a response from Ford to se if the system could be calibrated etc... Exactly why I don't wan't to bring the car in and be vehicle-less for a week or two. I may email TRW the simple question, although they will likely tell me to contact Ford...

 

Thanks for the response, I will PM Ashley if I get anywhere.

 

I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I wasn't ignoring you! ;) You know where to find me if you need help with any of the SYNC stuff.

 

Kim

[hybridbear]

I'm beginning to wonder if there was a calibration issue with the adaptive cruise in the white FFH. I used it in the Energi coming home from the dealer and on Tuesday while driving to Owatonna for work. I feel like the Energi picked up vehicles much farther away and began slowing down. I also had one stretch where I was following another vehicle where the adaptive cruise was keeping my distance since he was traveling slower than my set speed. It kept me farther back than the white FFH ever did. In the white FFH I felt that even the 4 bar setting was too close for safety. In the Energi I felt like 4 bars was safe. And based on my observations it would pick up vehicles that were about a 6-8 second following distance in front of me and display the little car icon. If one of those vehicles began slowing down it would begin slowing me down early on.

 

I'll be doing the Owatonna trip again next Tuesday and will see how it goes then.

Edited September 10, 2014 by hybridbear

[jeff_h]

It kept me farther back than the white FFH ever did. In the white FFH I felt that even the 4 bar setting was too close for safety. In the Energi I felt like 4 bars was safe.

 

Wow I guess it's relative to the friendly drivers in one's area -- 4 bars? I keep mine at 2 bars and often have other drivers moved into my lane right in front of me as it's considered a big gap.

[acdii]

Have you checked the sensitivity level? I wonder if that has any play in it.

[corncobs]

 

Wow I guess it's relative to the friendly drivers in one's area -- 4 bars? I keep mine at 2 bars and often have other drivers moved into my lane right in front of me as it's considered a big gap.

I don't have a feel for 2 bars but I feel like some drivers around here would even get into the 1 bar space.

[Riggo]

I always use 1 bar. Driving around the DC Beltway, anything over 1 bar and I'd have people constantly cutting in front of me.

I often wonder if drivers behind me think I'm the worst braker they've ever seen. With the ACC on in medium to heavy traffic it seems to lay on the brake much longer than I would. Sometimes I'll do a quick cancel and resume just to stop the braking.

[murphy]

I always use 1 bar. Driving around the DC Beltway, anything over 1 bar and I'd have people constantly cutting in front of me.

I often wonder if drivers behind me think I'm the worst braker they've ever seen. With the ACC on in medium to heavy traffic it seems to lay on the brake much longer than I would. Sometimes I'll do a quick cancel and resume just to stop the braking.

You can use the accelerator pedal to override ACC braking.

[hybridbear]

Have you checked the sensitivity level? I wonder if that has any play in it.

Collision Warning on both cars was set to "High". Is there a setting to adjust ACC sensitivity? I'm not familiar with one.

[acdii]

No, but the sensitivity is tied in somehow, I notice it brakes sooner when set to high, and brakes when it sees oncoming traffic on a curve, that gets a little unnerving at times.

[Sleddog]

I have mine set to one bar. The idiots (transplants, snowbirds and tourists) will cut in on you. Usually to make a right turn from the left lane. I still cover the brake pedal just in case.

[darrelld]

I have mine set to one bar. The idiots (transplants, snowbirds and tourists) will cut in on you. Usually to make a right turn from the left lane. I still cover the brake pedal just in case.

 

I see the same thing all the time. Drivers here will be driving behind you and if you leave enough space to the car in front they will pass, cut back in front of you slam on the brakes and turn left.

Edited September 13, 2014 by darrelld

[darrelld]

You are correct Waldo, I am speaking about the "Forward Collision Warning" system. I have read and understand the parameters including not braking, going over 5 mph, not steering aggressively etc...and taken all of these into consideration. I don't expect the system to brake for me but I had ordered the option to assist in WARNING me of a possible collision with a vehicle that may have suddenly slowed or stopped in front of me, in the event I may have been temporarily distracted.

 

I expect the system to work between high sensitivity and low sensitivity like the other owners of Fords as shown on this tread and copied below:

 

 

 

 

Now with that said this morning my wife DID manage to get it to go off once. I was extremely surprised because I cannot get it to happen. In today's scenario she was less than 5 feet from hitting a car, and I am not exaggerating! - so the system did give a warning on this one instance but I tell you she was driving badly and approaching extremely another vehicle very fast, she actually had to swerve as brakes would not have stopped an impact, frankly if another car would have been next to us she would have caused an accident (not too happy with her right now!!)

 

Anyhow, the system in my car must be so de-tuned that the 5 foot before impact warning does no good whatsoever. I have set the sensitivity form Low to Highest and as I said it does not work like the videos above, In it's current state it is useless. I have also watched other videos showing the system go off even for cars in the other lane. I am wondering if the new sensor in my car was calibrated so badly, it is pointless??

 

I have mine set to medium sensitivity and it seems to go off slightly more than I would like. Example, approaching a 30 degree curve with a left turn lane will set if off if the last car in the turn lane is close to but not actually in my lane.